


Lionheart

by ladyxgreywolf



Series: Evermore [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Deleted Scenes, F/M, Lionwolf, M/M, Missing Scene, POV Cullen Rutherford, This has been on my mind for ages
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-19
Updated: 2018-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-06 20:47:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13419336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyxgreywolf/pseuds/ladyxgreywolf
Summary: Cullen is brought into the Fade by Solas in order to save Lea.A/N: This is a bonus scene fromDemons Run When A Good Man Goes to War. It is advised you read that first.





	Lionheart

**Author's Note:**

> Set during Chapter 28 of _Demons Run When a Good Man Goes to War_.

     The fortress was lit up by funeral pyres and echoed with the screams and sobs of the injured and dying. He never got used to that. War and battle ran in his blood – but the reality of it always tore his heart to shreds.

     Especially now.

     He had been nowhere close to the bridge when it collapsed – and wherever he went, people who were not too caught up in their grief at seeing fallen comrades fell silent, while others screamed and wept even more.

     To them, the Inquisitor had died – and left him behind.

     He refused to believe it. Lea might not have ended up in any situation quite like this before – that he knew of – but she had a natural knack for surviving.

     And, wherever she was, Solas was with her.

     He shook his head and focused on the present, on what he could see around him as he walked the same route he had taken a dozen times that night already, back towards the camp. He had promised Cassandra he would get some rest, let her check up on everyone for a while – and even though he doubted he would get any sleep whatsoever, he should lie down for a while. The tent opened and closed behind him, leaving him in darkness, and he let out a slow, measured breath. Ran his hands up his face, through his hair, rubbed at his neck.

     _She’s fine_ , he told himself. _Fine. Alive. Solas is with her._

Isolated in his tent, his mind drifted back to the elven mage.

     He remembered the first time they had met. Him, still scarred by what had happened to him as a Templar, and Solas… 

_“You cannot change anything without understanding.”_

     No other mage – apostate or Circle – had ever said that to him. Not even the Hero of Ferelden. And even though they did not interact much, did not talk or give each other counsel like others might have, Commander Cullen Rutherford always knew where Solas stood on matters. And he always knew when he was nearby.

_“I trust everyone in your Inner Circle, but I trust him the most.”_

     Lea had looked stunned as he spoke those words. Even in the darkness of his tent, he had been able to see it on her face.

     And, to some degree, it had stunned him as well.

     He might not be with the Order anymore, but he was, to some degree, still a Templar – and with what he had experienced he should hate mages. At least distance himself from them. Definitely not trust them.

     Definitely not…

     Cullen groaned and sank down on the cot, tried to keep his mind from drifting further. He was sleep deprived, weary from a long battle and worried for the safety of those he cared most for.

     “Andraste, bring them back”, he murmured into the darkness, before lying down on his back. Fully clothed, fully armed. He did not intend to sleep. But he needed to close his eyes, just for…

     “Commander.”

     He jolted awake, hand going to his sword instinctively as he blinked, frowned. Why was it so bright all of a sudden? And why did his tent smell of wildflowers?

     “Commander”, the voice said again, sounding slightly impatient. Cullen turned his head and gaped at Solas, standing with his arms behind his back only a few feet away.

     “What… where…”

     “I’ve brought you into a shared dream”, Solas explained, his voice clipped. “At any other time I would gladly have explained the process further, but right now I cannot.”

     Cullen opened and closed his mouth, then looked around them. Taking in the forest clearing bright with sunlight, the deep green grass dotted with wildflowers.

     “Incredible”, he murmured. Solas frowned slightly – which made Cullen quickly get to his feet and brush off. Hoping the elf could not see the embarrassed blush on his face as he did.

     “Alright”, he said, “what has happened?”

     “We’re in the Fade”, Solas replied.

     “I assumed we were”, Cullen said.

     “No. I meant those of us who fell. We are in the Fade.”

     Cullen froze.

     “Physically?” he asked. He had never heard of anything like that being done before. People visited the Fade in dreams, most of the time without knowing it happened. Only mages were able to retain some semblance of control – unless they gave in to temptation by demons.

     “Yes”, Solas said with a nod. “There is a demon that Magister Erimond wanted to bring through – the Nightmare. We are in its domain. It has trapped all of us previously in vivid nightmares, though we managed to break free of those. Now…”

     He paused. A shadow passed over his face and he seemingly had to steel himself before continuing.

     “Now”, he said, “it has only taken Lea.”

     Cullen inhaled sharply.

     “We cannot wake her”, Solas said, his voice soft. He sounded like a man admitting to himself that he was powerless to do anything.

     “She’s… is she…”

     Cullen could not form a proper sentence.

     “She’s not dead”, Solas replied, “but if we don’t free her from the Nightmare soon… I cannot say.”

     The shadow passed over his face again. His hands closed into fists – and a tree at the edge of the clearing broke and fell. Cullen gaped at it, then at Solas.

     “ _Ara seranna-ma_ ”, the elf said, drawing a deep breath to steady himself. “I let my emotions get the better of me.”

     Before he could think better of it, Cullen stepped forward and placed a hand on Solas’ shoulder. The elf jumped in shock.

     “You have a plan”, Cullen said. “That’s why you brought me here, isn’t it?”

     The frown was back on Solas’ face, his silver eyes studying Cullen intently.

     “I have”, he eventually replied. “It is… a complicated spell. I’m already testing the limits by adding this dream as a layer to the Nightmare’s domain. To the Fade itself. Entering a vision will…”

     “You won’t fail.”

     Solas fell silent.

     “You trust me that much?” he eventually asked.

     “Yes”, was Cullen’s reply. The elf was silent for a while longer before he took the hand still resting on his shoulder, grasping it. Heat seeped from his skin.

     “Think of her”, he said, his voice a whisper that blended with the breeze around them. “Focus on her with every part of your being. Your soul. Your mind. Your heart.”

     Cullen closed his eyes. It was easy to picture Lea’s face, her voice, her laugh, her smell. But he was also all too aware of how close him and Solas stood. The way the tall elf’s breath ghosted over the bare skin where his neck joined his shoulders.

     “Will this be dangerous?” he dared to ask.

     “No”, was Solas’ answer. The answer came too fast. Cullen gripped the other man’s hand just a bit tighter. _Don’t lie_ , he thought – but did not dare to say.

     “Focus, Cullen.”

     His heart jumped as the elf rasped out his name. Solas must be able to feel it in how his pulse changed. _Lea_ , Cullen told himself, _focus on Lea, not on_ …

     Solas’ free hand brushed against his temple.

     “ _Vheraan_ …”

     Cullen groaned and leaned down, allowed his forehead to rest against Solas’. He did not know what that word meant, but it resonated within him as if he was an instrument – and the elf had just plucked one of the strings with his long, slender fingers.

     “Focus”, Solas breathed. “ _Vheraan_ , I need you to focus. We have to bring her back. We have to save her.”

     He slipped into elven, murmuring phrase after phrase that Cullen did not understand – but felt within him. Helped him.

     Lea appeared in his mind, vivid and alive. Laughing. Smiling. He remembered their first kiss, the taste of her lips as addictive as lyrium. Could recall every word she had ever spoken to him.

     His whole body hummed as Solas’ spell seemed to take hold. Moved them from the forest glade to… somewhere else. For a while they were suspended in what seemed to be empty space.

     And new images appeared in his head. New memories.

     Desperate kisses in the desert.

     Whispers that he was not worthy. That he would only bring harm to her.

     A memory of him – Cullen – and Lea, together in the Skyhold gardens. Watched by someone else. Someone who let out a long, measured breath and turned. Walked away. Told himself that this was better.

     Solas.

     Cullen’s head spun with the realization that these new memories had, somehow, leaked from Solas to him as the elf worked his spell. Memories of Lea and him together. Memories proving that Lea loved the elf as something more than a friend.

     And the spike of jealousy he had expected to come did not.

     It felt as if he had always known. As if it was meant to be. The three of them, together. Not tearing each other’s hearts to pieces.

     Did Solas know? Did the elven mage know what Cullen had just witnessed – had just realized?

     “Almost there, _vheraan_ ”, Solas rasped. Cullen grasped his hand a little tighter, put his free hand on the mage’s face. Mirroring him. He felt Solas’ shuddering intake of breath – and the exhale against his face.

     “You won’t fail”, he whispered. He did not open his eyes, but he felt Solas move. Subtly taking a step closer. His whole body was burning – and Cullen felt himself needing that fire. Wanting to pull it closer.

     “Find her”, Solas breathed. “Grab her. Hold on to her.”

     And then he broke free, making Cullen snap his eyes open. The sounds of battle surrounded them. Someone screamed.

     Lea.

     In an instant his vision cleared and he saw every detail of the grand room. Saw some version of himself battling a version of Solas – and how his other self moved in for the kill.

     He drew his sword and blocked the blow – and felt the real Solas dispose of his copy. Moving in sync.

     “Commander”, Solas said behind his back. Cullen did not need to look at him to know what he meant. Instead he marched forward, towards the woman staring at him in shock, and wrapped his arms around her. Solas shielded her from the other side, one of his hands on her back – and the other on Cullen’s arm.

     His silver eyes met Cullen’s own – and then the three of them were ripped from the vision. Lea screamed in pain. Cullen clutched her tighter – but his eyes searched for Solas’. The elf had closed his, his head dropping.

     “ _Vheraan… vhenan… vheraan…_ ”

     His lips did not move, but it was definitely his voice that whispered around them. Raspy. Exhausted.

     When he stumbled back after landing them in the clearing again, Cullen did not hesitate. He let go of Lea, grabbed the pale, trembling elf, and lowered him to the ground. _Don’t go_ , he thought, placing a hand on Solas’ left shoulder.

He wanted to weep when the elf covered it with his own hand. Reassuring him.

     _He’ll be fine._

_We’ll all be fine._

**Author's Note:**

> So... surprise?
> 
> As written in the tags; this has been on my mind for a long time and I just decided to write it down. If I find the inspiration I will do more of these from different people's POVs. Just a head's up :)


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